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Sunday, 27 August 2017

Preserving Client Confidentiality, via the Implementation of an Encrypted PDF Letter Attachment System

With the amounts of money, and volumes of confidential information which attorneys often deal with, adopting safety protocols similar to those of financial institutions can save money, and help reduce confidentiality breaches.

Increasingly, attorneys and their clients are reporting cybercrime, including hacking. Solutions such as ProtonMail are effective, but require a client to set up an account for best usage. Simpler methods are easier to apply in most instances.

Use of encrypted, password protected PDFs as a solution

An easy way to protect sensitive information, and to, by and large, verify identity, and better ensure privacy, is to send sensitive information as (256 bit) encrypted, password protected PDF attachments, using programs such as Power PDF to encrypt information.

A client can then be WhatsApped or SMSed the (preferably 12+ character) decryption password, per document, and a summary of what the communication is. Alternatively, a client and attorney can agree to a matter specific unique password, in consult.